Whoever said it was easy being a capybara is wrong. Wait, did no one say that? Are you sure? I thought I heard someone say it was easy. No? Well then, the reason they don’t say it is because it is not true. It is hard being a capybara. You might think that having teeth that constantly grow is a good thing. No need to worry about cavities. But there is a dark side to tooth growth. A dark, painful side.

This is just going to be a quick update because I am too physically and emotionally drained to do a real blog post.

Please read my original post, Garibaldi is Sick, to get the background for this post.

Gari went to see Dr. Hoppes at Texas A&M University Veterinary School yesterday. A whole team of vets and students worked on him. They did xrays of his teeth. The molars on his lower right side are all messed up. One had a very sharp point that has clearly been cutting the poor little ‘bura’s tongue for some time. There is also some infection in the roots of those molars. Basically, he has the same thing Maple WoMER did. Luckily, because it is his lower jaw, he won’t end up losing an eye.

The vets were able to file down the worst offenders of the points on his teeth but he will need to see a veterinary dentist to get any real work done. As it turns out, the reason capys have such tiny tongues is because that’s all there is room for in their tiny mouths. There’s no room for human fingers or instruments. So, if he needs any major work, it will have to be done from the outside, through the side of his face.

Gari is in a lot of pain right now but we just managed to get some pain medication down him about two hours ago. He finally ate a few bites of endive, one of his favorite foods. We’ve also given him some critical care. Tomorrow, he really needs to start eating.

Gari is also going to be on antibiotics until we get in to see the dentist in about two weeks. Maybe that will clear up the infection. If not, he’ll need to have the offending teeth removed.

So that’s where we are. I’ll post more in a couple of days when I’m not so depressed.

You might have gotten the idea that my life is easy from reading the previous post. Well, it’s not true. I have my share of hardship, let me tell you. Do you see that photo above? That’s the kind of thing I have to put up with to earn my treats. And that is just the start. Do not read any further if you care about the Dignity of Capybaras!

I am not big on running but Melly is big on photographing me running. It’s one of our many conflicts. You can see in the photo above that I am not easy to photograph when I am going fast. I tend to blur due to my great speed! (Just kidding!) I am much better at sleeping, but we’ll get to that in my next post.